A few years ago, at the start of summer, my team at Amazon was going through a rough patch. Lots of people leaving, increasingly-challenging business problems, and the first real Prime Day to prep for. To boost morale, and keep myself sane, I started hosting a themed happy hour.
This lasted through the summer but fizzled out as planning for the holiday season began in earnest and I was without a direct manager. An old teammate, who is now a current teammate (funny how this happens at Amazon), recently suggested I bring this back. So, today, I will.
The Drink
Now that we’re deep into fall and haven’t seen the sun in a few weeks, I have a hard time making anything that isn’t warming. Food needs to be hot and drinks need to be spicy for the next 4 months. But, this often comes at the expense of freshness and things start tasting bland a few weeks into fall. I think this drink balances the need for spice and desire for freshness pretty well. I’ll be making a growler for everyone to share.
The Playlist
Fall doesn’t have a distinctive sound to me (outside of rustling leaves, of course). For whatever reason, I associate piano with winter, so it’s not cold enough for that yet. Driving beats, obviously, belong back in summer at this point. Guitar riffs and more electric sounds do well in the spring to wake us all up from hibernation. But fall? That’s hard.
I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I associate fall with late nights in the woods with bonfires to stay warm and weekends at my family’s maple sugar camp pretending I was interested in anything other than drinking syrup. Fall had a very Americana vibe to it, so maybe the music of the season is full of banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. If you agree, I think you’ll like this playlist over the next few weeks.
Bonus Halloween Drink
I always loved Tootsie Rolls as a kid, so made my own version this year since Halloween seems as good an excuse as any.
